Liberal Senator for Victoria, Sarah Henderson, today announced that Connecting Country (Mt Alexander Region) Inc. had been awarded $19,450 under the Morrison Liberal Government’s Communities Environment Program.
“This program is all about harnessing the passion of grassroots community organisations to deliver practical local projects that directly improve our local environment,” Senator Henderson said.
“This project will survey and document the threatened woodland bird life through community engagement. This will deliver data which will assist in understanding habitat restoration within the Mount Alexander region”.
Another seven projects were also funded in the Bendigo electorate. These are:
- Bendigo Field Naturalists Club Inc. $5,000
- This project will support the protection of the threatened Brush-Tailed Phascogale by constructing 200 nest boxes. This will provide the opportunity to monitor the species within its natural habitat.
- Kyneton Racecourse and Recreation Reserve Incorporated $8,650
- This project will remove willow trees from Post Office Creek and replace them with native shrub species. This will revegetate the site and restore the natural creek habitat to attract birds back within the local environment.
- Landcare Victoria Inc. $20,000
- This project will remove weed fruit trees on the southern side of McIvor Road, Harcourt, then revegetate with native flora through a community planting day. This will re-establish and increase habitat and numbers of vulnerable native species within the area.
- Macedon Ranges Shire Council $6,000
- This project will monitor and conduct flora surveys for Clover Glycine at two reserves in Kyneton, and will engage with experts to educate the community on the plant’s identification. This will improve the community’s capacity to monitor the population of the plants, and the collected data will assist in future flora management actions within the reserves.
- Muckleford Catchment Landcare Group Inc. $3,000
- This project will involve repairing and replacing existing nest boxes and then lead into annual monitoring. This will enhance the habitat support for the local wildlife within the reserve.
- Upper Campaspe Landcare Network $20,000
- This project will monitor and map populations of locally vulnerable and endangered nocturnal species. This will provide greater clarity on the density and location of species and assist future efforts to secure habitat sustainably within the Bendigo area.
- Mount Alexander Shire Council $20,000
- This project will remove invasive weeds from local bushland and replant local native vegetation. This will restore habitat and increase community involvement in ecological recovery plans within the Castlemaine community.
The Morrison Government is investing more than $22 million in the Communities Environment Program to support local environmental projects in every electorate across Australia, with grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000 per project.
A broad range of organisations were eligible to apply, including local community clubs, not-for-profit organisations, landcare groups and schools.
Senator Henderson said that the Communities Environment Program was empowering local community groups to deliver practical local environmental projects that would not only raise environmental awareness but also strengthen the local community.
“I was very pleased with the high quality of applications received from our local community and environmental organisations, and their enthusiasm to undertake practical environmental projects.
“Community groups in the Bendigo area are already delivering many fantastic environmental projects, whether it’s planting trees, cleaning up local waterways, reducing litter or protecting native species,” she said.
“This new funding will help to make the region cleaner and greener for future generations, and I look forward to working together to deliver this project next year.”